Dispensing and vending machines have been used, and are presently used in merchandising a variety of articles which include beverages, medicinal products, different foods and snacks, and a host of other packaged goods. Indeed the use of such machines is a matter of common experience and affords a convenient alternative to over-the-counter sales of products or hand and mail delivery of samples for the advertising and marketing of different goods to consumers.
In one vending machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,289, the merchandise packages to be sold to customers are stacked within a plurality of vertical compartments each having a bottom opening. These compartments are peripherally arranged around a rotatable column, and the columns are rotatable to successively bring each column into register with a package release element. Activation of the release element permits the lowermost package in the registered compartment to fall through the opening of said compartment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,395 describes another dispenser for dispensing small articles, such as tablets, in preset quantities. The dispenser comprises a plurality of radially arranged storage containers for storage of the tablets, in bulk, in individualized plastic tube-type containers. The entire dispenser assembly is rotatable so that when one container has been emptied the next radially adjacent container is moved into position to dispense additional tablets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,780 describes a beverage vending machine for dispensing cups containing ingredients which require only the addition of water and possibly sugar. The machine includes a turret mechanism which has radially arranged magazines adapted to hold a plurality of columns of pre-packed plastic cups. The columns are rotatable about a vertical axis as each column is emptied.
The aforementioned patents represent a few of the variety of vending and dispensing machines which are described in different patents. Other machines are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,093,410; 2,268,688; 2,290,275; 2,556,852; 2,720,336; 3,209,945; 3,266,642; 3,756,362; 4,069,943; 4,978,032; and 5,080,257.